Abstract

The purpose of my experiment was to see if there was a difference between the cosmic ray muon flux during the night or the day.  I used data submitted to cosmic ray elab to measure the amount of cosmic rays received between  7 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the day, and 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. for the night.  We received an inconstant amount of rays throughout the day regardless of time.  So, I concluded that there isn't a distinguishable difference between day and night.

Introduction

Cosmic rays are charged subatomic particles, usually from protons or hydrogen nuclei, that brake down and form showers as hit Earth's atmosphere from space.  They come from many different places in space, including the sun.  My question was would the amount of cosmic rays that reach us be different during the day then they are during the night.   

Procedures

I borrowed data from PatsLab fermilab, Glenbrook South High School, and Fermilab Test Array.  Universal Standard Time -5 hours= Central Daylight Time.  All the data i took was in the month of November. Then, I looked between the hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the day and between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. for the night.

Results

I have found there to not be a difference in cosmic rays between daytime and nighttime hours. The graphs show there was a small amount of difference in some hours, but with the error bars they have a nearly constant measure of cosmic rays.  The differences also were not constant from day to day.

Discussions & Conclusions

I have found that there is no distinguishable change in the amount of rays that were received during the day or the night.  As you can see on the graphs, the error bars on the graphs make the amount of rays received nearly constant.  The graphs also show an occasional and inconsistent drop at unexpected hours.  If you wanted to possibly make this experiment more precise you can take data at different times in the year to see if this conclusion is true for all times of the year, because your distance to the sun will change.

Bibliography

Patslab Fermilab IL November 1, 2011

Glenbrook High School IL November 15, 2011

Fermilab Test Array IL November 12, 2011